Demo conference stars 2 gadgets: Touch Book, VUE
PALM DESERT, Calif. -- You don't see many physical gadgets coming out of the high-tech Demo conference anymore, the confab made famous as the launchpad for Palm Pilot and TiVo. What typically emerges now are tools and services around social media and productivity.
Still, executive producer Chris Shipley says she saw more consumer hardware in advance of Demo than even during boom times, though only a few made it onto the conference stage. Times are tough, and Demo took a hit in attendance and in exhibitors: 39, down from more than 70 in peak years. Here's my take on a couple of interesting products this time around, a netbook computer with a twist and a network of cheap consumer webcams. Caveat: I haven't tested these yet.
A touchy netbook
It's easy to dismiss Always Innovating's Touch Book as another of the seemingly ubiquitous and cheap netbook computers. The light and compact machine has a slightly undersized qwerty keyboard and 8.9-inch display.
What makes it unusual is that you can detach the keyboard and transform it into a stand-alone touch-screen tablet. It's magnetized so you can hang it on the fridge to access the family calendar, or use as a digital photo frame. For that matter, you can use it as a frame even if the keyboard is attached, by propping it up in an inverted "V."
Netbooks are not meant to serve as your primary computer. They aren't going to beat regular laptops in any speed tests. They have relatively wimpy processors, are stingy on storage and memory, and exact other trade-offs. But they're easy to travel with and carry penny-pincher prices. So it goes with Touch Book. It weighs just 2 pounds and costs $399 with the keyboard; 1 pound and $299 if all you buy is the tablet.
It's an "open source" Linux machine that can't run Windows XP or Vista, though you can load either Windows CE (the core behind Windows Mobile) or Android — the operating system Google is pushing on cellphones.
Touch Book has an iPhone-like accelerometer you might use to play games. In fact, Always Innovating founder Grégoire Gentil says it can run actual iPhone apps. I suspect Apple may have something to say about that.
Inside is a chip built around Texas Instruments' ARM technology, the kind of processor you also see in mobile handsets. The chip is less powerful, Gentil says, than the Intel Atom processor built into several other netbooks. But he claims a battery life of 10 to 15 hours, or about three times longer than most netbooks. Take manufacturer battery claims with a grain of salt, but if Touch Book comes close it will be impressive. Like a cellphone, it can be left in an "always on" sleep mode state, so it promises to come alive in a jiffy. It houses two batteries, one in the tablet portion, another in the keyboard.
As with other netbooks, it's meant for casual computing: watching a movie, as opposed to editing one. It will come with Mozilla's upcoming "Fennec" browser (think mobile Firefox) and a removable 8 GB flash memory card. You can bolster storage via USB; there are six ports on board, three of which are internal. One of those internal ports is reserved for Wi-Fi. Down the road, you might use others for an optional "3G" cellular modem or GPS.
A clip of WALL-E played fluidly on the prototype I eyeballed. In tablet mode it has an inviting touch interface with spherical icons for such destinations as YouTube and Facebook.
Always Innovating doesn't expect to start shipping until June, though the company is taking pre-orders on the Web and will waive mailing costs if you place an early order. Lingering questions: Can an unknown upstart compete against Dell or HP? Can they really sell Touch Book at such low prices?
Room with a VUE
All of us wonder sometimes what's happening at home or the office when we're not around. You can set up Internet surveillance cameras. But wiring and configuring them is a challenge.
The VUE Personal Video Network from Avaak pledges to remove the hassles. The network consists of wireless, battery-operated marshmallow-size webcams that easily mount on the wall.
VUE takes advantage of wireless "mesh" network technology, developed for the military. To set it up, you connect a gateway to your home router, and press a sync button on the cameras. No software is required. Cameras must be within about 300 feet of the gateway.
Avaak is packaging the gateway and two cameras for $299; extra cams cost $99. That includes 2 gigabytes of online video storage. You can e-mail clips and share streams. Camera batteries might last a year, Avaak claims.
There are some limitations. It initially supports only the Internet Explorer 7 browser. You can't remotely control camera angles. There's no motion sensor. The company plans to add these capabilities in the future. Avaak is taking orders now, though VUE isn't shipping until summer. Like Touch Book, it shows promise. I can't wait to try them out.
E-mail: ebaig@usatoday.com